Shades of Grey
by HLamp
Summary: The only constant in an unstable future is that Valerie and Dan Phantom hunt one another. But are we ever truly exempt from redemption? Are certain paths unforgivable? More importantly, is humanity ever really that easy to let go of? Unrelated oneshots.
1. So Much More

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**You know what the absolute best part of Danny's awful evil future is?**

**NO SAM! :D**

**Yeah, just him and Valerie 24/7. **

**Except that they want to kill each other...**

**But hey, I can accept that, as long as Sam is still dead.**

_**DISCLAIMER: **_**I don't own anything pertaining to Danny Phantom.**

_**WARNINGS: **_**None.**

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><p><em>I have a memory. <em>

_It's locked inside my chest, hidden away so that the fire of this unwanted future can never touch it, never burn it away._

"Danny, I know you're in there somewhere."

The ghost shot a smirk her way, white hair flaming upward to the sky. "_Danny_?" he mused, head cocked to the side, as if in confusion. "Now _where_ have I heard that name before?"

Valerie gripped the ecto-gun, eyes narrowed at the strange yet achingly familiar face. "I know you never meant for any of this to happen, Danny. You may not be human anymore, but you still have your memories."

_Please remember me._

Was it selfish, petty, even of her to wish he would just remember them as they had been, even once? Could he truly no longer recall the feel of her lips on his, how her dark eyes had brightened at his touch?

"Honestly, human, I hold no desire for you any longer." He grinned, flashing two gleaming canines at her. "Silly little things likes kisses and whispered sweet nothings hold no precedent over power and immortality."

_He remembers!_

_He remembers those kisses, those soft embraces. He remembers each and every whispered declaration of love, doesn't he?_

But before the powerful blast of ectoplasm even connected, Valerie knew the truth; he remembered everything. He remembered loving her, recalled each and every moment their eyes had met.

But he didn't care anymore.

_"I don't hate you, Danny; it's because of you that I'm the most powerful ghost hunter in Amity Park."_

_Why did I let you go that day? Why didn't I just kill you or cart you off to Vlad? If I had just killed you, this future wouldn't even be happening, so why didn't I just snuff out your existence for good?_

But Valerie wasn't foolish enough that she didn't know the reason why she had let him go all those years ago.

She flew off the glider as Dan's ectoblast shot into her abdomen, toppling to the ground, the sound of something breaking muffled and distant in her ears. Whether it was a bone, or something more, deep inside of her, she didn't really know.

Dan gripped her by her thick mane of hair, pulling sharply, eliciting a cry of pain from the hunter; she would have to remember to cut it if she made it out alive.

Valerie closed her eyes, screwing them shut with all her might. She didn't want to look into those eyes, those strange, cold eyes that seemed so out of place on that face.

_We were more than this. So, so much more..._

But the red glare in his eyes clearly disagreed.


	2. Sparks

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**I actually had a blast writing this one, simply because I view the beginning as being slightly humorous. And then it sort of gets sadder, I suppose.**

**Oh, just so you all know, spectrophilia is having a sexual attraction to ghosts and or willingly having sex with ghosts. Hopefully that takes away any confusion.**

_**DISCLAIMER: **_**I don't own Danny Phantom.**

_**WARNINGS: **_**Mild s****exual content.**

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><p>He wasn't stupid.<p>

Far from it, really. Although he certainly knew he didn't love her, he couldn't help but notice how often his thoughts strayed to her nowadays.

She was a peculiar creature, that Valerie.

Passing conversation, that's all it had been. Just a few simple, curious whispers, really. But that one word had stuck, and hadn't left him alone for days.

Spectrofilia.

And of course that train of thought had led straight back to her.

Could allowing himself to indulge this whim really be misconstrued as human folly? It was just sex, after all. Meaningless, passionless sex.

He was just afraid of the impact such an act could have on him. Would something like that be strong enough to trigger an old memory, bring back a flicker of humanity?

This woman was going to be his downfall if he let these strange urges continue. She seemed to be made of fire, pure and uncontrollable, and every time she came into contact with him, it was as if he himself were composed of nothing more than gasoline, and only she could ignite that long forgotten spark.

Every time her fist connected with his, he could feel it, brewing deep within. That spark in her eyes...the spark that had once been in his. Only she brought it out, fought to free it from its cage.

Sometimes, he thought, pleasure could become love if you let it fester and didn't kill it off fast enough.

So he intended to light it on fire and watch it burn.


	3. Gods and Men

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**Chapter Three already? I think so. :)**

**And we even get a little mention of Vlad as an extra bonus.**

_**DISCLAIMER: **_**I do not own Danny Phantom, sadly enough.**

_**WARNINGS: **_**None.**

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><p>Two human beings meant something to Dan Phantom.<p>

Vlad Masters, his creator of sorts, and...

Valerie Gray.

Both hated him now, but long ago, he had been loved by both.

Masters had showered him with a father's affections, and had ultimately been rejected.

Valerie, the hunter girl, had loved him with far more than a friendly or sisterly tenderness, and initially, those feelings had been returned in full. But once he had forsaken his humanity, all loving hopes and cares had been abandoned, left to wither away in the cold.

Thinking back, he could remember scouring the shelves of his sister's dust-covered bookshelves after her death...the death he had caused. Perhaps he had been searching for something to hold onto, or maybe he was just trying to remind himself that he had once been human, once had a sister.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein...The Modern Prometheus.

That was the only book he could remember. Sifting through pages of an embittered scientist and his raving creation, its yellowing pages still reeking of his sibling's irritating human scent.

Oh, how he had marveled at how perfectly a work of fiction had mirrored Vlad and himself!

He would be his own Prometheus, bringing fire to the weak mortals crowded below.

And oh how they would burn, dancing in flame, their shrieking music to his ears.

But he would leave her, his bloodthirsty Valerie.

Because in the end, the monsters that the two of them had been made into could only find solace in one another, even if that comfort could only be found through hatred and bloodshed.


	4. Weary

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**Short chapter before I update the next two chapters (Which are actually both connected, full of angst, have an original premise that I may use for a full-length fic, involve future!Vlad, and are both much longer than this one).**

**In response to Bree's review:**

**Please make an account if you don't already have one, that way I can respond to you via PM. Your review was very encouraging, and I'm glad you enjoyed the last three chapters, and don't worry, there's a lot more where they came from, as this is easily my favorite story arc from the series.**

**And review, people! They make me happier and more eager to write.**

_**DISCLAIMER: **_**I don't own Danny Phantom, but strongly wish that I did; it would have been a whole lot darker if I did own it, that's for sure.**

_**WARNINGS: **_**Mild language.**

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><p>She is hunting, always hunting.<p>

Constantly moving, endlessly on the prowl, she seeks retribution.

And every day she crawls closer to that line that must eventually be crossed, the inevitable moment where one of them must die so that the other can live out the remainder of their lives.

Who knows, she wonders halfheartedly, perhaps both of them will go out together, two self-made monsters created for the same purpose; to destroy.

It feels as if she's had her eyes wide open for the last fifteen years, never sleeping, always hunting for that heartbreaking, elusive prey.

She is so damn tired; tired of fighting, tired of killing...

Ultimately, she is tired of living in a future where there is only one destiny that lies ahead, one that ends in bleeding wounds and dying lovers.

But tonight, she puts the gun away, takes off the helmet, and sits slumped against the alleyway wall that has slowly become her home. She closes her eyes, and sleeps for the first time in what seems like a century.

But it will only be a for a few short minutes, she understands this well enough.

After all, there is no reprieve for those who are doomed to hunt the very thing that makes their heart keep on beating.

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><p><strong><em>P.S.<em>**

**I don't remember how long in the future Dark Dan and Valerie's future takes place, so I just said around fifteen years for this, because Dan looks about thirty-ish to me, so it just made sense at the time I was writing this. Did the show ever really say? I watched TUE a while back, but I can't recall any specifics, except for that future!Vlad looks like a hobo. So if any of you know, feel more than free to correct me, so I can change this.**


	5. Scent of October

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**Happy Halloween!**

**Here's my Halloween drabble for Shades of Grey, and, in keeping with the tone of TUE, it's pretty angsty. **

**But what were you expecting, lollipops?**

**Ha. Nice one.**

_**DISCLAIMER: **_**Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom; I do not.**

_**WARNINGS: **_**None.**

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><p>The October breeze was faint, gently pushing against Valerie as she propelled forward on her glider. It was a little more brisk than she had expected it to be tonight, but she supposed it would make perfect sense that cutting her hair would take away a good deal of warmth, the swarthy skin of her face and neck now fully exposed to the elements.<p>

She wasn't wearing the helmet for this patrol. It had an irritating habit of blocking out any outside noises as of late; she supposed that after all these years, it was to be expected that Vlad's suit would begin to wear down.

She stole a glance downwards, at the empty, darkened streets. Even after all this time, she was still slightly unused to the vacant feel of it all; no laughing, shouting children donning tacky costumes and parading around for the sole sake of stuffing their mouths full of sweets, no jack-o'-lanterns lighting up the town's crowded streets, no wacked-out Fentons yelling at unsuspecting kids about ghost protection and whatnot.

And certainly no spirited Danny Phantom flitting around, making sure that his beloved Amity Park was safe from ghouls and ghost and nightmares galore.

Valerie bit her lip and stared ahead, scowling at the horizon.

_Where's you beloved town _now_, Danny?_


	6. Fortress

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_

**Forgive me for the length, but I'm saving myself for the Christmas drabble, which is downright horrific in nature (You'll see what I mean). **

**So hopefully this is enough to satisfy people until the Christmas update.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom, unfortunately. Butch Hartman does.**

**WARNINGS: None.**

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><p>He is a fortress of impenetrability.<p>

Humanity has been cast outside of his vast fortress, shut out for all eternity.

Passions and fears and dreams turned to dust, naught but shadowed shades of what could have been.

Impervious is his fortress in the night, guarded against petty weaknesses and, above all, pathetic mortality.

But somewhere, there is a crack in his defense.

She shines a pomegranate red against the bleakness he has cast, breaking past his armor and tearing down his walls.

Gliding amongst the stars she bolts through that crack, widening it to the point of near fatality, and enters that carefully crafted fortress, destroying all that is in her path.

This weakness—this _crack_—must be terminated.

A blemish in his fortress, turning his heartless visage into the very picture of weakness.

She is a vulnerability, and must be brought to her knees so that his fortress may thrive.

Only then can he truly remove that one last shred of humanity continuously poisoning his veins.


End file.
